Pawn
by ShadySadie
Summary: Unable to locate the Doctor, the Sards grab Clarice instead. Best of the book/movie and my own little twist on things. COMPLETED!!!!
1. Pawn

Disclaimer- Don't own them. Wish I did. Then I wouldn't be poor.

Authors Note- This is the first fanfic I've actually posted. I've written a few other stories but I'm just so critical of everything I do. _Everything has to be perfect. _Nothing was ever good enough. So, I decided to just take the plunge and throw this out there. If I get a couple of positive reviews I'll continue it. 

Okay, I wrote this is because I like the fact that the Doctor and Clarice ran off together at the end of the book. However, I like a lot of the changes they made for the movie as well. So, I decided to blend the two endings, add my own twist, and voila! This is what I came up with:

PAWN

Chapter one

Clarice Starling, suspended agent of the almighty F.B.I., stood at the railing overlooking the ground floor of Union Station. With the cell phone ear piece wedged in her ear she listened to the voice of the man that had replaced the screaming lambs in her dreams. The man that she thought about at least thirty seconds of every day. And above all; The man that never lied to her. This man was telling her now that her precious F.B.I. Didn't love her. _Heh_. _Tell me something I don't know._

"Are you paying attention to me, Ex-Special Agent Starling? Are you, by any chance, trying to trace my whereabouts?" The achingly familiar, and eerily comforting metallic voice resounded through her ear piece. 

She had put tracking the Doctor on hold as she observed the two dirty looking thugs that had been following her since she left her house. She had spotted them one floor above her, by the railing, making a feeble attempt at acting casual and blending in. _Going unnoticed is going to be a little hard for ya with that smell, guys. Sorry. _ "I'm being followed, Doctor Lecter." 

"Yes, I know. I've seen them."

Clarice picked up the music from the carousel in her ear phone. _He's gotta be over there_. Through the throngs of people she quickly made her way over to it, intent on getting him back into custody, as he continued to speak into her ear.

"And now you're in a REAL dilemma, aren't you? Do you continue to try and find me, knowing you're leading them to me?"

Clarice slowed her pace briefly at this. The Doctor's words from only minuets earlier came back at her "_Mason doesn't want to kill me any more than I want to kill him. He only wants to see me suffer in some unimaginable way." I'll get to Doctor Lecter first. I will… _

"Do you honestly believe, Clarice, that you could somehow simultaneously arrest me and them? Things could get VERY messy. Like the fish market." He said as though reading her mind. And she stopped. 

Only feet away from the threshold to the high ceilinged, spacious area that held the carousel, she stopped her pace entirely.

"What's the matter, Clarice? You're never going to catch me at that rate."

Clarice turned her back to the bright lights of the carousel and walked slowly back in the direction she came from. "_What's the matter_? I'm not going to be responsible for you're torture and death, Doctor Lecter. That's what's the matter. I'm not going to be a pawn they can use to draw you out." she spoke with a heated, low voice into the phone

__

Ahh, but you already are, Clarice. There's nothing you or I can do about that. The Doctor pondered this current change in events for a moment. He thought for sure she would stop at nothing to apprehend him. His Clarice was full of surprises. "Well now, that's _really _interesting, Clarice." The Doctor continued after a deep breath " So. Tell me, if you weren't being followed by Masons malodorous little helpers, would you continue the pursuit?"

"You bet your ass I would." She said, without hesitation.

"And what do you think this chase would lead to? Hmmm, _Agent Starling, _how would it play out?"

" Well, Doctor Lecter, you would string me along until I finally got the better of you."

The Doctor chuckled "My, we certainly are sure of ourselves, aren't we?" 

"This game of yours is whimsy, Doctor, and it's what got you caught the last time." Clarice replied. 

"I see. So you'd have me cornered, then proceed to politely ask me to put my hands behind my back so you can cuff me and haul me off to another asylum, where I'll await the death penalty? Have I got it all down, _Clarice_? Is that how it would happen? Hm?"

No answer.

"Tell me, Clarice, what if I don't cooperate? What if I refuse to put my hands behind my back like a good boy? Could you shoot me?" 

Silence on her end.

"I'd _really_ like an answer, Clarice."

"Yes." She said a bit too quickly.

"You're lying, Clarice."

"You're right. I am. " _Goddamnit… _After a pause "No." she said quietly "No, I couldn't." _WHY? WHY COULDN'T I? He's killed so many, and so have I for that matter. What's one more to my list? Why not just take him down and make the world a safer place for rude people, and sub standard flute players everywhere? _An unassuming voice in the back of her mind told her it was because of the way she felt about him. She chose to ignore it. She had chosen to ignore it for the past ten years. Clarice considered for a second "Unless, of course, my life depended on it." She added, but quickly realized how stupid it was.

"I think you know better than that, Clarice." He sighed. " So what would you do? We'd be at a bit of a stale mate, don't you think? Actually, I could just turn and walk away. How would you stop me?" 

"I couldn't." Clarice choked out; her throat constricting in a effort to suppress these sudden, frustrated tears. _notgunnacrynotgunnacrynotgunnacry_

"So let's recap, shall we? You don't want me to be tortured and killed by Mason, or anyone for that matter. You couldn't kill me your self. However, you have no problem with returning me to confinement, just so long as I beat the needle? Is that right?"

"Yes." She said; a little stronger now.

"So given the chance you could not deny me my life but you could deny me my freedom. _Just _that. You'd take that from me?"

__

YOU MORON. _He spent eight years in a cell no bigger than your bathroom! He'd rather be dead than go back there _she chastised herself. A simple "Oh…" escaped her lips. 

"So you see, Clarice, unless of course you _do_ in fact want to stay with me in my cell and hold my hand, returning to imprisonment would be a fate worse than death." 

Had Clarice's back not been turned to the Doctor, he would have seen a single tear roll down her cheek as something inside her broke. Maybe it was the dam that held back this truth that she knew all along. 

"The question now becomes: Why do you bother chasing me at all?" 

"I GUESS I SHOULDN'T" Clarice shouted into the phone before hanging up. In her rage and confusion she ripped the ear piece out and threw it to the floor. She made her way to the exit, blinded by tears she refused to allow to fall. Who was she, if not an agent for the F.B.I. ? And how could she be an agent if she couldn't even do her job? She had gotten too close… too close. _Mr. Crawford warned me… "You don't want Hannibal Lecter inside your head." He told me. _ _They were right to suspend me. Even though they only were able to do so through Paul Krendler's lies…_

The Doctor watched as she left the building, the Sards close behind her, unsuccessfully scanning the area for him. Once they were a safe distance away, he took to trailing Clarice. 

Frustrated, outdoors now, her phone began to ring. "WHAT"

"Why did you hang up, Clarice?" 

"BECAUSE I NEED-- I don't know what I need. TIME TO THINK. I don't know what to do anymore." Clarice stopped and stood on the common in front of the station, the saxophone player beginning another song nearby. She took a deep breath and collected herself. Clarice could hear the echo of the music in her phone. " Are you following me?"

"Yes"

"Why? I'm letting you run, Doctor Lecter. You need to get your ass out of here before you're spotted." 

A pause. "Such concern for my welfare, Clarice. I'm sincerely touched." 

"Well, that's just wonderful." Clarice began walking again "Doctor, I'm hanging up now. I'm sorry if I'm being rude. If you've got a problem with it, feel free to stop by my house later and eat my tongue or whatever." 

"Hmmmm. Was that an invitation?"

"GOODBYE"

The dial tone in his ear and Clarice's sudden sarcastic streak amused the Doctor to no end. As per her request, he stopped following her and backed off before calling her again. 

*************************

Carlo and Piero casually walked amongst the parked cars and people, searching for the Doctor. Some distance ahead walked Clarice Starling, returning to her car, who they also kept an eye on. 

"I don't see him anywhere. I think we lost him." Piero said; his voice heavily accented. 

__

No shit. Carlo leaned against one of the parked cars and thoughtfully chewed on the boars tooth that hung around his neck "Mason's going to be pissed when we return to him with nothing." He made one last visual scan of the area. _No sign of the Dottore. _However, his eyes did fall again upon Clarice Starling. The wheels in his head began to turn. "I have an idea." Carlo pulled out his cell phone and called the van.

************************

"What is it now?" Clarice snapped. 

"You know, Clarice, That really is _no_ way to be answering a phone. Someone might think you have a social disorder."

"Why do you keep calling me?"

"Why do you keep answering the phone?"

"UUUughhhhhh"

"I'm getting the impression that there's something bothering you, _Clarice._"

"Besides the phone harassment?"

"Ahh. On a somewhat unrelated subject: I've left a gift for you in your car."

"How thoughtful." 

"Well, I suppose THIS encounter answers my question."

"What? Which question?"

"Clearly, you manage your rage by venting your frustration through sarcasm." 

"Thanks for the analysis , Doctor." Clarice, finally at her car, opened the drivers side door. An open shoe box with a beautiful pair of black Gucci sandals rested on her seat. "Shoes?" For a moment, she forgot how upset she was supposed to be at him and at herself, she forgot her confusion and turmoil, she forgot who they were, and a coy smile formed on her lips. "Are these to replace the second rate pair I'm wearing?"

The Doctor's trademark grin broke out on his face. "I'm not sure they would go with the outfit you've got on at the moment, Clarice, but I do hope you like them anyway."

"I do! I lo-- Aww, shit." _This whole situation is fucked up._ _The most thoughtful, not to mention expensive, gift anyone has ever gotten me and it had to come from the cannibalistic serial killer who seems to be a little obsessed with me. No, my life's not complicated at all. _Clarice sighed. "Thank you." She said

The sadness in her tone did not escape the Doctor. He waited. 

Clarice stood outside her car; gazing at the sandals that now rested in the box on the roof. She absently stroked the leather with her free hand; holding the phone with the other. "All I wanted to do was help the lambs. I didn't realize I'd have to wade through all this bull shit to do it." She said, finally, in a small voice.

He listened. It was apparent to him now how tired of this life she had become. She had buried it well._ But I just dug it up._

Clarice was tired of this constant battle that was her career, and grateful for someone who wanted to be there to listen. Not just polite listening, but actual interest. Like the discussions they had in Baltimore. No one before had ever asked her about her childhood. No one had cared " I feel like I'm two different people. Little ten year old Clarice wants nothing more than to make her Daddy proud and protect the lambs at all costs… because it's the _right_ _thing to do_."

"That may be the right thing for little ten year old Clarice to do," the Doctor began "or the right thing for her Father to do… But what about the grown woman Clarice? What's the right thing for her to do? What is it that she _wants_?" Doctor Lecter asked gently.

__

"Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? And don't your eyes seek out the things you want?" Doctor Lecter's past words rang in her head. _"people will say we're in love." _ Miggs. The towel. The touch of his finger. _"I have no plans to call on you, Clarice. The world's more interesting with you in it." _The very fact that he was in D.C. now, for her, in her time of need. The danger he's in now _for me._ _What is it that you want, Clarice? _And she knew. Right at that moment she knew what she wanted. "I want--" Clarice gasped and let out a strangled cry of pain as she felt two objects pierce her upper back.

"Clarice?"

Another cry as the electricity from the stun gun flooded her body and incapacitated her. The phone fell from her hand, hitting the pavement. Clarice followed, dropping to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself as if it would ease the white hot searing pain. Tires from the black van screeching to a halt inches from where she knelt. 

"CLARICE?" 

Another jolt of electricity from Carlo behind her, holding the gun, and she collapsed to her side; lying on the street in a fetal position. She desperately reached out to her cellular on the ground not 4 feet away, as though he could somehow jump out of the phone and help her. 

The last thing Doctor Lecter heard on the line was Clarice's voice gasp out his name over the phone in a strangled breath. Whether she used his formal title or his first name is hard for us to say. 

But he heard her. 

Piero opened the back door of the van while Carlo dragged Clarice to it and pulled her in. Piero getting in behind them and shutting the door as the van sped away. The pain had died away a bit and Clarice, conscious therefore not about to go down without a fight, kicked Carlo square in the stomach. _Damn. Missed the balls. _Carlo flew back into Piero. 

"What's wrong with you? Tie the bitch down!" Piero shouted.

"Shut the fuck up and hold her down!" Carlo gasped once he caught his breath. He straddled her and chained one arm down while Piero held the other . Clarice strained her neck to get as close as she could to his arm and bit him hard enough to draw blood. 

Carlo pulled back and hit her repeatedly until she lost consciousness. 

************************

Sometime within the fifty three minuets between Starling's abduction and the arrival of the first officer on the scene, if you looked to the parked Mustang with the open drivers side door and the Gucci shoes on the roof, You'd see a man. Very still. Very Quiet.

Come closer.

Upon closer scrutiny we can see that only one sandal still rests on the roof of the car, the other is clutched tightly in Doctor Lecter's hand; his knuckles white from the force he's inflicting upon the innocent shoe. If we looked him in the eye, we would see the extremely rare sight of the Doctor agitated and angry to the point of nearly loosing his control. I don't care if you believe we're beyond harm or not, I'd rather not stick around. I doubt it's safe to be near him when he's like this. For now, we can only learn so much and live. 


	2. The Pawns Black Knight In Shining Armor

Authors Note- Thank you SO MUCH for your kind reviews. Reading them just made my day! Here's the next chapter!! Hope you like it:

PAWN

Chapter two: The pawns black knight in shining armor

Mason Verger sat quietly in his electric wheel chair, the heavy drapes drawn on the windows of his large bedroom. In the dark, he contemplated this latest turn of events. 

He knew that Carlo was not bringing home the gift that had been requested. He had called Mason less than an hour ago to inform him of what had transpired at Union Station. Directly after hanging up with Carlo, a call to Paul Krendler confirmed that the F.B.I. was proceiding with Starling's disappearance as a kidnapping, and that they were holding Lecter responsible. 

"A few witnesses saw two men put her in a black van." Krendler had told him. " If there hadn't been any witnesses, the bitch wouldn't have been missed for days. They probably would have gone ahead with it as a missing persons case." Krendler paused, waiting for Mason to say something.

He was answered with nothing but silence.

He continued " It's no matter though. D.C.P.D. found Lecter's prints on her steering wheel. So I've been pushing that angle. They seem to be buying it."

"And you're sure I'm not suspected at all in this?" Mason finally spoke. The plosive sounds in the sentence lost.

" No, your not." Paul cleared his throat and then plunged "Actually, I think I've been doing a damn fine job of keeping attention away from you. You know covering up the disapearance of a federal agent was not part of our original agreement." 

__

Money hungry cock sucker "You'll be compensated." Mason replied and hung up the phone. 

Now, watching dust play in the shaft of light from the setting sun that streamed in through the drapes , Mason considered the situation_ You have to be able to work with what you've got. In fact, this may just work out to my benefit. Having that Starling bitch here will draw Lecter like a mosquito to a bug zapper. _Mason knew this to be fact. Carlo had known it too, that's why he grabbed her while he could. Mason became more pleased with himself by the second. 

"Cordell!"

Cordell entered the room like an abused puppy dog "Yes, Sir." 

"Get me Carlo on the phone."

"Yes, Sir." He said in his submissive tone. 

"And put on some music. I should be celebrating."

**************************

If Clarice Starling had ever wondered what it had been like for Doctor Lecter during his time at the asylum, then she was sure getting a taste of it now. Down the sweeping halls of the Verger mansion, Clarice, bruised and battered and with the iron taste of blood in her mouth, was pushed; bound to a hand truck. 

The Blue Danube Waltz played from speakers in the halls.

The man she heard the others call Carlo walked along side of her. Another, the big one, behind her doing the actual pushing. The third, the driver, she had seen go off toward the barn once they had taken her out of the van. 

Upon entering the mansion, swallowing her pride, she started calling out for help _Like a goddamn damsel in distress. _

"I wouldn't bother if I were you, _Signorina._" Carlo had said with his dirty smile, leaning in a bit too close for comfort for her. He reeked of farm animals and B.O. " The servants are gone. All the people left here are paid well for their silence." Clarice flinched back as he moved to brush a rough finger across her cheek. 

And then a memory returned to her. One she didn't even know she had. Doctor Lecter. In her house…. Was it a few nights ago? No, last night. _I was asleep… _ in the chair _He was there and he tucked my hair behind my ear. I felt it. _He smelt clean and of a hint of tasteful cologne _Intoxicating. Something he probably bought in Italy. _Clarice sighed. _Mmmmm. _

The hand truck came to a stop and she was snapped from her revere. To her side; long windows stretching floor to ceiling looked out over the estate. The weak late afternoon light was allowed in. From the shadowed room ahead of her came a voice she recognized. 

"Agent Starling." her name sounding relatively clear from his nearly lipless mouth. Mason emerged from the dark of his room, bringing to light what Doctor Lecter had left behind of his face years ago. "You know, you weren't originally on the guest list for this party." He stopped directly in front of where she was strapped, looking up at her with his single remaining functional eye. She glared right back down at him. "But I suppose God works in mysterious ways." 

She considered attempting hostage negotiations with him, but decided against it. Her long, red hair fell in front of her defiant gaze. Hands and arms bound, she was unable to tuck it back. "Doctor Lecter should have finished what he started with you." She said in a calm yet menacing voice that she barely recognized. 

Mason let out what passed as a chuckle, followed by a slurpy intake of breath. "Yes, I'm betting right about now he wishes he'd fed the rest of me to the dogs. What with his precious _Clarice_ in distress and all. What do ya think, Agent Starling? Will he show up to save your life, or will he come to retrieve you so he can kill you himself?" 

Clarice declined to answer. Just like she had skipped around a similar question that Jack Crawford had asked her

_"Have you ever thought that he might like you, Starling?" _

_"I think I amuse him. Things either amuse him or they don't. If they don't…" _

"Ever felt_ he might like you?"_

YES!!!

Mason backed up his chair and began to circle her as he spoke. An attempt at appearing predatory, Clarice gathered. " In fact, I'm expecting the good Doctor soon. That's when the real _fun_ will begin. Care to hear what's on the agenda for later?"

"I can hardly wait."

"Once the guest of honor arrives, he's going to get to watch as his girlfriend is eaten alive by wild boars possessing a full mouth of forty four teeth a piece." Mason stopped in front of her again. "Then we'll let him dwell on that for a little while, maybe a few days, give the pigs a chance to digest you and get hungry for more." He waited for reaction, but Clarice held herself as stone faced and unreadable as the Doctor would have. Disappointed, Mason continued " The next meal the boars receive will begin with an appetizer: Doctor Lecter's feet. The main course, the rest of him, won't be served until seven hours later."

Clarice broke his gaze at this and looked to the windows. There are a lot of things Clarice Starling can stand; knowing any living thing is suffering is not one of them. _At least I won't be around to hear his screams. _she thought sadly. But then it hit her _He'll be there to hear mine. _And she wanted to cry.

Mason drank her reaction in, savoring every drop. Had he the lips to do it with, he would have smiled. "But during this time, he'll be able to enjoy the effects of the pre consumed appetizer with a full body saline drip." 

Clarice suppressed the tears and pulled forth the rage. Angry now more than anything, she met him head on. Unable to do much from her vantage point, she did the one thing she could; Clarice pulled back and spit in his one good eye. 

One of the Sardinians snorted as Cordell rushed to a flustered and furious Mason to wipe his face. "TAKE HER TO THE BARN!" Mason barked.

As they moved to push her away, Clarice caught Cordell's eyes for no more than a second "YOU!" she called out to him; remembering him from her previous visit. His mild manners, his submissive demeanor. "How could you do this? HOW CAN YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF?" Cordell tried to ignore her. 

"DINNER AT EIGHT!" Mason called down the hall after them; confident the Doctor would be attending.

*****************************

In a detached silence, Clarice Starling, still bound to the hand truck, watched as two of the Sardinians prepared a place for her at Masons twisted dinner party. They were at work now bolting heavy leather straps to the barn floor, as though it were a hospital bed for a violent patient. _All the better to eat me there, I suppose. _

She looked on as the third moved a fork lift in, specially equipped with a cross bar at the top so that it resembled a crucifix. On one of the arms hung Doctor Lecter's mask from the asylum. The Sard parked it across from the spot on the floor the where the other two were at work. _Well, I guess this is where you'll be seated tonight, Doctor. Best seat in the house for my demise. _

Clarice smiled to herself then, and if anyone had seen her they would have thought she was crazy. The entire situation suddenly struck her as ridiculous. _…Lecter, party of two. Ahh Doctor, so glad you could join me. We're about to be EATEN BY PIGS._ It took her a while to realize she was crying. Silent tears. She took a deep breath to compose herself. _I'm so sorry, Doctor. _

They were coming over to her now, Carlo and the other one. _Piero, I think. I wonder what the Italian word for asshole is. _Carlo had a small knife in one hand. Piero had a Taser. Carlo stopped close in front of her and held her eyes for a long, uncomfortable moment before beginning to undo the straps on the hand truck. "You fuck with us and I'll cut you. Understand?" he spoke firmly.

Clarice understood perfectly, but said nothing. _If I'm going to try and get out of this, I'm going to have to do it now. Once they get me on the floor I'm done. _As soon as she was freed, Carlo quickly grabbed her left arm, twisting her around so that it was wedged painfully behind her back. Her back to his front now, her right arm was pinned down by his as it tightly circled her midriff and held the knife threateningly at her side by her ribs. Carlo did not pretend to threaten her life and hold it at her neck; Mason would not be happy if he killed her before the Doctor arrived. 

Slowly, Carlo walked her ahead. Clarice discovered she could still bend her right arm at the elbow _Here we go. _ She gripped the arm he held across her flat stomach with the knife and pulled it away, but not before he managed to cut her good across the side. Adrenalin going, Clarice hardly felt it as she turned to face him and kneed him in the crotch. Carlo doubled over in pain and Clarice sprinted for the door. 

It wasn't a long run.

She didn't realize how close behind her Piero had been. He caught her around the waist, hitting her injury in the process and Clarice was well aware of it's presence now. She cried out in pain before Piero brought the Taser to her neck and incapacitated her. _He moves pretty quick for a fat man_ her last thought before going limp in his arms. 

Piero dragged her to the spot on the floor where she would be bound, dropping her there roughly. He Began to strap her arms down, glancing up at Carlo who was approaching now, still holding his crotch in pain. Piero looked back down at what he was doing, shaking his head with a smile. Her right arm was now secure. Like the first nail in her coffin. 

Clarice swam back from semi consciousness as Piero began to work on her other arm. Her side was throbbing. Carlo pushed him out of the way and took over. "Get out side with Matteo and watch out for the Doctor! _Attenzione! _GO!" Before leaving the room, Piero stopped at a cassette player resting on a ledge on the far wall. He pressed play and the room filled with the sound of screaming victims long dead.

Carlo, straddling her now, finished binding her other wrist. _There's number two._ He made sure her infuriated gaze met his before he purposefully, slowly, slid his body down hers and knelt at her feet. Clarice moved her leg to kick him, in hopes of getting him square in the jaw, but he caught her. "Ah ah ah. I think not." He slammed her foot back to the floor and, sitting on the other one, proceeded to strap them both down. Clarice tried to hold her head up to see. She heard the sounds of pigs behind her; drawn to the pre recorded screams. 

Carlo stood up, turned back around to face her, and straddled her again; watching her face for a moment before moving his hand roughly to her injured side. With a sharp intake of breath Clarice grimaced in pain. Carlo pulled his hand back, his fingertips covered in red. "The smell of the blood will _really _get the pigs excited." He leered at her. She looked away. "It's a shame," he continued, grabbing her chin tightly with his clean hand so she had to face him "Such a pity to waist a nice piece of ass like you." 

She knew what was coming next. 

"I've got some time to kill before the Doctor arrives." He said, sliding his hand up her shirt.

"And he's going to kill you once he gets here." in her mind; pulling up the info from the scene of Pazzi's death, a second body was found on the scene as well _Use it. _"Just like he killed your brother. He must be smelling as badly as you do by now." 

Carlo's expression fell. He pulled back and slapped her hard across the face. His hand fumbled at the waist of her pants to unzip them. He moved to hit her again when she began to struggle against her bonds.

Clarice braced herself.

But the blow never came. Carlo's hand was stopped short, and Clarice looked up to see Doctor Lecter standing behind him. She saw blood on his mouth but it was not his own. The look in his eyes was of pure and uncontrolled rage. 

Clarice could hear the bones in Carlo's hand cracking. Carlo's cries almost rivaled the screams that came from the tape player. The Doctor ripped him off of Clarice. "_PIERO! MATTEO!" _Carlo called out as the bones in his arm cracked as well. 

"I'm afraid your friends are already dead." the Doctor sneered at him.

Doctor Lecter moved quickly, bringing his hands up to grab Carlo's face, digging Carlo's covetous eyes out of his head with his thumbs. Blood flowed down his face. The Doctor spoke to a whimpering Carlo in a dangerously quiet tone now, Clarice could hardly hear him. "Nothing would please me more right now than to see you suffer." he began "But I'm _really _pressed for time." The harpy seemed to appear from nowhere. "So this will have to do." he said as the Doctor slashed Carlo's femoral artery, just like the pick pocket in Florence. Clarice watched Carlo collapse to the floor.

She looked back up at the Doctor, wiping his blade clean; his face returned now to that of the controlled gentleman she was used to seeing. He used the back of his hand to wipe the blood from his face. Against her will, Clarice found herself more turned on by this display than she ever had been in her life. She swallowed hard. _What is _wrong _with me._

The Doctor's eyes shifted to the not-so-sturdy pen that held back the gathering of ravenous pigs. He went to the tape player on the ledge and shut of the recorded screams, then turned all attention to her. "Are you alright, _Clarice_?" He asked; his face calm, but she heard the concern in his voice. He swiftly went down on one knee to release the straps holding her arms.

Clarice's wide eyes moved from the body lying only a few feet away, and met with the Doctor's calming gaze. She let out a relieved chuckle "As well as can be expected." Her arms were free now and he helped her sit up. 

Her complexion was pale and he could smell her blood. "I would say you look well, but unfortunately, you don't." 

"Gee, thanks." 

"Can you walk?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine."

He sighed and shook his head with a grin while moving to her ankles " I've heard _that _before." With one leg free, the Doctor found his keen eyes drawn to Carlo's limp arm where he lay not so far away. He noticed a deep human bite mark just above the wrist of the right hand. Clarice's gaze followed the direction of his eyes before he looked back to her "Is that your handy work?"

She cleared her throat and rolled her eyes, wondering if the pun was on purpose. "Yeah." her face devoid of expression.

__

"Yeah…" he mimicked "Couldn't have done better myself." The Doctor said with a sly grin while beginning to work on the last strap.

"Shut up"

A loud crack from the boards of the pen drew their attention. 

"Doctor Lecter, I'm beginning to think the stability of that gate has been overestimated." She said; her head turned so she could keep her eyes on the pigs. 

With Clarice completely free now, he offered her his hand. "I'd have to agree with you." 

Clarice took his hand and he carefully pulled her to her feet. Her eyes met his and her breath caught in her chest. Her mind sped back to Memphis; the last, and only time they had ever touched. _This is the first time I've actually gotten a good look at him since then…. The years have been kind. _His expression was the same now as it had been then and it made her dizzy. Then she realized the dizziness was probably more from the blood loss. 

The boars made their presence known with their efforts to break through the gate. The lower boards snapped and they began to rush from the pen and into the barn, quickly flooding it.

"_Clarice, _stay _very_ still." He told her in a calm voice, gently pulling her a little closer. Surrounded now by a sea of volatile, hungry, man eating animals.

Very tense, Clarice nodded her head. Blood from the cut on her side trickled down. A boar had stopped to sniff her leg, then moved on to the cooling body on the ground. . 

"I'm going to pick you up."

"_What?" _ _Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you _"I don't _need_ to be picked up. I hardly think this is the time--"

"_Clarice,_ your endorphin level is high, your afraid; rightly so. Your also bleeding." he spoke low into her ear " I can smell both and so can they." He paused "I _really_ think you should let me pick you up."

Another boar had begun to take an interest in her "Yeah…Yeah I think you're right." Clarice placed an arm behind his neck and he carefully lifted her without effort. Her eyes held his.

The Doctor had no idea how much this close proximity to her would effect him. Every curve on her warm body that touched his was felt in vivid detail. It was like the connection they had made in Memphis magnified tenfold. 

Doctor Lecter focused himself and made his way out of the barn with Clarice in his arms. Past the pigs fighting over what was left of Carlo, and out the barn doors. 

Once a safe distance away, the Doctor set Clarice down. Leading her by the hand, _in case she feels faint _he told himself, he walked her to where his Jag was parked down the service road. Ever the gentleman, Doctor Lecter opened the passenger side door for her. She stopped and looked at him a long time before thanking him and getting in. The Doctor understood that the thank you was probably for more than just opening a door for her. 

Clarice sat carefully, so as not to aggravate the cut by her ribs further. The doctor did not close the door behind her. Rather, he reached into the glove compartment and retrieved a square of gauze. Crouching in front of her now, she watched as he tore open the package and carefully placed it on her hurt side. He placed her hand over it and put a little pressure on it "That will slow the bleeding for now." he said and pulled his hand away. " Clarice, I'm going to the main house to pay Mason a little visit. He did want to see _me_, after all. It would be rude of me not to say hello."

"Doctor Lecter, no. Don't do this." Clarice pleaded; her West Virginian accent a little more defined now. "Look. We're out. Let's just go. It's over--"

"It's hardly _over_, Clarice. Mason won't stop until I'm dead. He doesn't care who he hurts in the process." He had know she would plead with him not to kill anyone else; no matter how they had wronged her. But to his surprise, she conceded quite easily. As if she had only pled with him to stop out of feeling obligated to do so. 

She sighed. And after a pause "You're right, of course." Her voice soft, and sad. 

He continued " I won't be gone long. The keys are in the ignition. I believe you are capable. If you want to go to a hospital, I'll understand."

Clarice realized that this was his way of letting her know that she was not his prisoner. He was giving her a way out now. The thing was, she was having trouble deciding if she _should _get out. _Well, I know I should. The real question is: Do I want to?_

"However," he continued "It would please me to see you here when I get back." The Doctor held her eyes for a moment as she sat, unmoving, with out an answer for him. And he left it at that, closing the car door for her before heading over to the house in the iron dark. 

**********************

To be continued… 

__ __


	3. Check

PAWN

Chapter three: Check

Cordell Doemling sat outside Masons bedroom reading the current issue of Entertainment Weekly. Maybe not reading it, so much as flipping through the pages while battling the inner guilt that came with being a part of this ugly mess. Lecter being tortured and the Starling woman being dragged into it burned him to the core. He was a physician, after all, and he believed in the Hippocratic oath. _First, do no harm. _ But in the end, Cordell came to the conclusion that there was nothing he could do except keep his mouth shut and continue to cash his astronomical pay checks. 

"CORDELL!" Came the voice from the bedroom.

__

Somebody shoot me. He tossed the magazine to the seat next to him. Cordell took a deep breath, stood up, and went to see what His Majesty wanted this time. 

"CORDELL!!!" sounding more aggravated than usual.

"Yes, Sir?"

"It's ten past eight, Carlo hasn't called me, and I can't get him on his cell." a definite whininess in his voice. Like a five year old whose not getting his own way. " Go down to the barn and see what's going on."

Cordell hesitated "But Sir, what if Lec--"

"I don't pay you to ask questions, Cordell. Just. Go. Do it." 

He sighed. "Yes, Sir."

Cordell turned and headed to the main entrance _I have a _very_ bad feeling about this…_ Down the long halls, through the immense foyer and out; finally. He stopped once he made it down the steps and stood on the gravel of the horseshoe driveway. The sound of crickets surrounded him. His gaze peered off into the distance at the barn _lights are on… _He considered _Walk or take the van? I could walk there in the time it would take me to go to the garage… _Cordell became aware of how dark it had gotten. _ten past eight, Carlo hasn't called, can't get a hold of Carlo…. _

Cordell took the van.

He pulled into the barn and immediately knew something was wrong. Cordell watched as a boar, on the loose, waddled past the idling van's headlights. "That can't be good." There was something in it's mouth that Cordell couldn't quite make out. A little wary to get out now, he looked out the passenger side window toward the entrance to the tack room and the pen. He couldn't see inside because of the angle, but he noticed two more stray pigs making their way out and over to the loading area where he was parked. They made a b-line for the first pig that had walked by. It stood defensively in a dim corner now, gnawing on whatever it had carried out here. Cordell backed the van out a little and turned it at an angle to shine the headlights on the pig. It was chewing on a human arm. "Oh, God." He felt the urge to throw up. The other two pigs began fighting with the first for the scrap. 

"Okay. Okay…Uhhhh" He tried to calm himself. _arm's too big to be the woman's… Jesus. Could be Carlo's. Did Lecter show up? _Cordell backed the rest of the way out of the barn, desperate to get out of there. Once he had backed all the way out, the headlights hit something else against the side of the barn: Piero. Or what was left of him. It was evident that the pigs hadn't been the ones to chew up his face like that. Cordell locked the doors of the van and sped back to the mansion. 

He pulled the van right up to the front doors and shut off the engine. A voice in the back of his mind screamed at him to get his ass out of the area. He was forced to ignore it. _If I leave without reporting this to Mason, I know I'll end up paying for it. _Cordell, psyching himself up to make a break for the doors, was caught in the eyes with the glare of headlights reflected in the rearview mirror. A trendy, little midlife crisis sports car pulled up behind the van and parked. Cordell recognized it as Paul Krendler's. _Wonderful…_ he rolled his eyes. He watched as Paul got out of his car. Cordell sucked it up and got out to meet him. "Is there something you wanted, Mr. Krendler?" he asked, annoyed; at the same time, glancing around nervously.

Krendler walked up to him "Yes, there is something I wanted. I came to get my payment." Paul had made a demand as to how he was to be paid before he agreed to any deals with Verger: In cash, non-consecutive serial numbers. FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS plus whatever else he could squeeze out of him. _And none of this Swiss bank account bull shit_ He didn't want to take any chances of it being traced. 

"It's inside, Mr. Krendler. However, We're having a bit of trouble now."

"Trouble? What trouble? What's wrong?"

"Trouble concerning Doctor Lecter, Sir…. I was just about to relay the details to Mr. Verger. If you'd care to come inside." Cordell gestured his hand to the front entrance. He walked up the steps and entered the mansion with Krendler close behind. One of them would never walk out again.

****************

"Mr. Verger," Cordell called as he neared Masons bedroom; Krendler in tow. Walking quickly, they entered the room where Verger spent most of his days; wasting away in the white covered canopy bed. "Mr. Verger, we have a situation…" 

Krendler noticed the blood spots soaking through the opaque curtains that hung on the bed and stopped short. Cordell, however, did not notice and kept talking.

" The Sardinians are all dead. Lecter was there, I think, and as far as I can tell--" Cordell pulled the curtain out of the way and what he saw made him jump back. "Oh, _God!" _He covered his mouth; trying to keep himself from vomiting in front of Krendler. 

Paul crept forward to see the carnage. "_Jesus…_" He had never seen such a mess in his life; it wasn't saying much, given that Paul Krendler had never seen any field action. "Lecter did this?" he asked in awe.

"Well it sure as hell wasn't me!" _as much as I would have liked to do it…_

The blood had begun to drip onto the floor. For a while, it was the only sound in the room.

"I have to call this in." Cordell finally said. His back turned to the bed. 

Warning bells went off in Krendler's head. _I'm not getting dirty in this _ "Not before I get out of here. Where's my money?"

Cordell stared at him as though he had arrived from the moon. "Fine." he said after a while "Come with me." He led Krendler to the study off the bedroom and moved a panel in the wall to reveal a safe. With the combination, he popped the door and pulled out a suitcase; handing it to Krendler. "Here. It's seven hundred thousand. You can show yourself out." he said, annoyed.

Krendler opened the suitcase to look at the money. _Nice…. _

Cordell moved to pick up the phone on the desk. Turning his back to Paul. 

"Wait." Krendler called. 

"What?" He turned to face him mid dial; phone to his ear. "What's wrong, now?"

"Oh… Oh never mind. It's nothing." he said with a dismissive gesture "I was worried for a second that _someone _might leak about my involvement in all this." His hand slipped into his suit coat. "Then I remembered that everyone who knew about me working for Verger is dead."

Cordell considered. And then it hit him "Hey, wait a minute! What about--"

Krendler pulled out his gun; which, if Clarice Starling had seen, would have shocked her to death. She didn't think he knew how to hold a gun, never mind the notion that he owned one. Krendler pulled the trigger and Cordell fell. 

He took the suitcase and left. 

************************

The sound of a gun going off caused Dr. Hannibal Lecter to pause his stride and turn his ear back toward the house for a moment. Hearing nothing else, he continued on down the service road. Curious as to what had happened, but not about to keep Clarice waiting, he dismissed it entirely. 

Doctor Lecter managed to make even the drab street clothes he wore look elegant as he gracefully walked down the road; hands in his pockets. A kind of peacefulness had overcome him, as it usually did after he killed. He was very pleased that he had managed to keep from making a mess of himself during his little visit with Mason.

The Doctor was nearly positive that he would find Clarice waiting for him when he got back to the car. However, he also kept in mind that she could be _very_ unpredictable at times. And while it may have seemed like they had made progress that morning, she may have talked some, what she would call, _sense _into herself by now. 

Just around this next bend in the road , and he would be able to see if the black supercharged Jaguar remained where he had left it. 

It was there, and the Doctor released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. 

Clarice sat in the passenger seat still; staring out her window with her head propped up on her hand, unaware that he studied her. She felt his intense gaze and her eyes flew up to lock on his. 

When he got into the car and there was silence for a minute.

"That was fast." she said finally; looking at him.

"_Yeah…_" he said simply. He had hoped she would know enough not to ask what had happened unless she was sure she really wanted to know. 

She didn't ask. She turned her head to look out the window again. " I was going to leave, but I didn't want to strand you here without your car." _That was so lame…_

He almost laughed out loud. She knew full well he could take any car he wanted and had the money to buy another car legitimately. He considered picking apart her excuse, but decided to leave it. "How very thoughtful." he said with a grin as he started the engine. 

He knew he had her now. 

********************

The ride had passed in a comfortable silence.

A good sized colonial house stood in the dark by the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The headlights of the black Jag reflected off the windows as it turned on to the long driveway and pulled around to the rear of the house. 

The car parked; Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter got out. 

With the Doctor walking slightly ahead of Clarice, they made their way to the back door. Following him up the steps now, he opened the door and allowed her to walk in first. Stepping in behind her, he hit the light switch to illuminate a large kitchen with an island counter and an antique Frigidair. 

"This is your house?" 

"Not exactly." He shut the door behind them.

" '_Not exactly_' ?" Clarice questioned; her back still to him as she looked around the kitchen. "Whose house is it?" 

"Let's just say I'm borrowing it."_ Of course, the owner won't have any use for it much longer, I'm afraid. _The Doctor saw she was still holding her side. "Get on the counter and take your shirt off, please."

Clarice spun to face him "_Excuse me_?" she said in a high, shaky voice, unsure she heard right. _so much for foreplay…._

Doctor Lecter realized the conclusion she had jumped to "So I can take care of your injury, Clarice." he said with a sly grin "Strictly in the capacity of a medical doctor."

"Oh…" She let out a small, nervous laugh. "I guess that makes sense…" Clarice released a deep breath "Uhhh…May I use your bathroom first?" she asked quietly.

"Certainly, Clarice. Where are my manners? I should have offered. Down the hall, first door on the right." He pointed out the way. "Take your time. I need to get the first aid kit from upstairs anyway." 

In the bathroom now, she took care of her business, then debated on whether she should bother to look in the mirror or if it was a lost cause. She looked. _Ughhh…._ Clarice retrieved a hair elastic she'd kept in the pocket of her cargo pants. Pulling her hair back to a low ponytail and washing her face with warm water, she decided it was the best she could do for now. _Look at me. I'm primping for the serial killer… No. No. No. I would hardly call throwing my hair up and splashing my face with some water 'primping' _Fed up, Clarice went back to the kitchen. 

Doctor Lecter hadn't returned yet. Clarice boosted herself onto the counter. Gingerly, she pulled her black tee shirt off; the gash on her side hurting her as she lifted it over her head _Gash? Stop being a baby, Clarice. It can't be that bad. _It was throbbing again. She had discarded the gauze when she went to the bathroom, incorrectly figuring the bleeding had stopped for good. Clarice waited; staring at the Frigidair refrigerator.

__

"Haven't you ever had people coming over and nothing in the house? You have to make due with what's in the fridge, Clarice."

It occurred to her to wonder what exactly was in his fridge. _Correction: His borrowed fridge. I wonder if I would find the borrowee's body parts in there. _Clarice made a mental note to be wary of anything he tried to feed her. She wanted to look inside but thought better of it. She knew how quietly Doctor Lecter moved _You never know when he's going to just come up behind you and--_

"Sorry to keep you waiting, _Clarice._"

She visibly jumped. Clarice turned to see him entering the kitchen. 

He looked amused. "I apologize for startling you." In one hand he carried the first aid kit. In the other he had what looked to Clarice like one of his white button down dress shirts.

"Oh, I… uhhh…was just lost in thought." She suddenly became very aware that she was sitting on a counter in her black bra. 

"From the way I saw you looking at that refrigerator, Clarice, I don't think I need to ask what you were thinking about." he said with a grin.

For a moment, she thought he might offer to show her what was in it. But he just winked at her and went about checking to make sure everything he needed was in the first aid kit. _He's just letting me squirm… _

It brought her back to the days of their talks in the dungeon. _He winked at me. Just like that…_ It was the first time she had gone to see him, in fact. _Trying to get him to do that bull shit Behavioral Science survey. _Clarice remembered wondering how a guy who seemed so charming and polite could be capable of the things he had done. That was right before he called her a "hustling rube", and made an interesting slurpy noise after recounting the meal he'd made of the last person who'd tried to test him. Clarice smiled at the memory.

Her attention was drawn again to the shirt he had brought down "What's that for?" It rested now on the counter next to her.

"Ahh. Unfortunately, I don't have any clothing here for you; with the exception of a lovely black evening gown I bought to match the shoes--"

"Evening gown?"

"Never mind." He finished taking inventory of the first aid kit and looked at her. "So I brought that down for you to wear when I'm finished."

"Oh,"

Doctor Lecter went to the sink to wash his hands and then returned. "Okeydokey, let's see how much damage there is."

It was long slice, about seven inches, stretching from her side, across her ribs, and ended under her left breast. "It's long but it's not too deep. It won't need stitches, but I'll use butterfly sutures to be safe." The Doctor cleaned the area thoroughly. The bleeding was very minimal now. He disinfected it with Betadine, closed the cut with several butterfly sutures, and covered it with a piece of gauze; wrapping a bandage around her ribcage to hold it in place instead of taping it. 

And through all this, the Doctor managed to maintain an air of professionalism. But now, as he wrapped the bandage around her, he caught a hint of her arousal on the air and his control was tested. His hand "accidentally" slid across her pale, soft skin a few times while he finished taking care of her. He couldn't keep his head from dipping down a bit to smell her hair while securing the bandage behind her back, either . He was rewarded with the scent that was uniquely Clarice Starling beneath the hint of almond shampoo. _Mmmm._ Reluctantly, the Doctor pulled back. He met her eyes; her lower lip between her teeth. His left hand unconsciously rested on her thigh. "Good as new." he said; his metallic voice low. 

Clarice smiled " 'Only in the capacity of a medical doctor' Huh? If I had a doctor who tried that kinda' stuff, I'd hafta' kick his ass ." She spoke softly; the West Virginian twang surfacing in her voice. 

__

Are you flirting with me, Ex Special Agent Starling? 

From the look he was giving her, Clarice thought he might try to kiss her then. But the Doctor only flashed her a wicked grin before bringing his attentions to the condition of her face. "You should put some ice on that." indicating her eye. He turned to the freezer to get some, wrapped it in a dish towel, and approached her again. 

__

Goddamn. He knows what I want and now of course he's going to tease me with it. And I'm supposed to be the Lecter expert…I should have known. Well, two can play at that game… Clarice grabbed the shirt he had brought down for her, slipped it on, and _slowly_ buttoned it up; leaving the top few open. She swam in the large shirt; the sleeves coming past her hands. "I'm a total mess…" she said; parting her knees a little. 

"Its not that bad." Doctor Lecter moved closer to her, till he was against the counter, nestled between her thighs. He gently pressed the ice to her eye.

Clarice chuckled "Yeah. Not that bad if you ignore the black eye, swollen lip, and the fact that I smell like a barn." She subtly rubbed her right leg against his left. 

"It's alright, Clarice. I hardly noticed the smell." His right hand slid around to rest at the small of her back; his thumb moving in lazy circles. 

"You really know how to give a girl a complement." Clarice said; tilting her head with a smile. The feeling of his hand on her bare skin had almost gotten her. 

Doctor Lecter's grin had disappeared "Well, how about this one:" He removed the ice to look at her. "You're beautiful. If I saw you every day, forever, I'd remember this time." All the games had been pushed aside and he was serious now. 

Clarice was a little taken aback. She was still for a moment but soon a soft smile returned "You're sweet."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows in faux shock " 'Sweet'? Mmmmmm. That _is_ a new one on me, _Clarice_. People tend to use the adjective 'Monster' when I'm spoken of." 

" Oooh, this could ruin your reputation."

"Only if you told." 

Clarice sighed "Besides, looks are an accident, Doctor Lecter. And frowned upon in the F.B.I unless you're willing to put out to get anywhere."

He placed his hands on her hips now "If comeliness were earned you'd still be beautiful."

Clarice was left speechless. Tired of waiting for him to make the move, she decided to take the initiative. She slipped her hand behind his head, leaned the short distance in, and kissed him. Doctor Lecter quickly returned her affection with a hunger gone unsated for ten years. His tongue entering her mouth, he found she tasted better than he ever imagined. 

She was the first to break away. Reluctantly, he seceded; only to look at her intensely. 

"That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." she told him quietly; running her fingers through his recently cut, spiky soft hair before bringing her lips to his again. 

Doctor Lecter gripped her backside firmly; pulling her forward to the edge of the counter so she was flush against him. Clarice discovered he was just as aroused by this exchange as she was; she felt him hard against her. 

She moved her lips from his and brought her mouth's attention to his neck. He smelled of that cologne again. The one he'd worn when he had visited her the other night while she was asleep. Her teeth nipped his skin and he held her just a little bit tighter; a low moan, almost a growl, emitted from his throat. "Clarice…"

Softly, slowly, and without thinking : "I love you." she said in return. 

The Doctor held his breath and stiffened; shocked. Clarice, realizing what she had said as soon as it left her lips, pulled back and clapped a hand over her mouth. She met his eyes, burning into her; waiting. "Is it too late to take that back?" she said finally; biting the nail of her index finger now, a nervous habit she'd had since college. 

Doctor Lecter took her hand and pulled it away from her mouth "Do you really want to, _Clarice_?"

__

I love him? It sounded good in her mind and it had felt good to say; like a deception being brought to light. It felt true. "No, I don't want to take it back. " 

He didn't say it in return. He didn't need to. His actions over the years had spoken to her louder than words ever could. She was actually glad about it; Clarice found that when people said "I love you, too" it sounded forced, obligatory. _Say it when it feels right._

Clarice had moved her hands to un tuck his shirt. The feel of her hands sliding under it , up his back, driving him mad. Her big blue eyes trained on his. He quickly unbuttoned the shirt that she had put on only minutes ago. He pulled out her pony tail and her hair fell loose around her shoulders; his fingertips brushing it back, his hand loosely gripping it at the nape of her neck to pull her into another deep kiss. 

And that's the position Paul Krendler found them in. 

The sound of his gun cocking caused Clarice and Doctor Lecter to freeze mid kiss. Their eyes opened and met as they pulled away. The Doctor lifted his gaze to see Paul standing in the kitchen doorway behind Clarice; gun held firmly, trained on Clarice then himself alternately. Clearly he had come in the front.

"Don't you FUCKING move." Paul walked from the doorway, through the kitchen to stand behind Lecter. The barrel of his gun inches away from the Doctor's dark sleek head. 

***********************

To be continued…

(Hhmmwwhahahahahah!!! I'm Eeeeeeeevile, huh?)

__ __


	4. When The Game Is Over

Authors Note- Here it is!! The last chapter and an epilogue. I have to say, this one was the most enjoyable to write. I was up until 3AM the other night getting it all down. Thanks again for all the great reviews!! I'll definitely be writing again. 

Oh, and I'm sure you noticed I added on my pen name. I realized there were about 12,567 other authors called 'Sadie' (Slight exaggeration) So I changed it to be the same as my screen name. 

PAWN

Chapter four: When the game is over

Hannibal Lecter's eyes moved over Clarice's face; she had the look of someone who had been thoroughly kissed. But her eyes reflected her shock and anger at Paul's interruption. Her legs were still wrapped around his. Her hands still on his back, reluctant to let him go, as she glared at Paul who stood behind him; holding the gun to the back of Doctor Lecter's head. 

"How'd you find us, Paul?" Clarice spat at him. She leaned back from the Doctor a bit; clutching her shirt closed against Paul's leering gaze.

"I _live_ here, Starling." He said with what looked to Clarice like a smile of triumph.

Her eyes turned back to the Doctor's "Paul Krendler's house? You've been staying in _Paul Krendler's house??" _she asked; annoyed. Astonished at how brazen he'd been to do something like this.

"It's his summer home, actually, _Clarice._" he corrected.

"Oh, well, that makes it alright then." she rolled her eyes. "What were you thinking??"

" As a matter of fact, Clarice, I had a lovely dinner party planned for you and I. And Paul was to be the guest of honor."

"I'm flattered." came Paul's monotone voice from behind.

The Doctor turned his head slightly to address him "You should be, Paul. Your frontal lobe was on the menu for the main course." 

Paul was silent. Clarice watched as he turned turn five shades of pale. It pleased the Doctor to see a smug smile of satisfaction on her face. 

"Though I don't think you would have missed it much, _Paul._" the Doctor continued. He turned back to Clarice " Unfortunately, Paul's ill timing has forced me to throw out my plans." 

Finding his voice again; Paul spoke directly to Starling. "I'm actually surprised at _you_, Starling. When I planted that phony love letter in your office I never would have guessed you were _really _fucking him." He released a humorless chuckle "And here I thought you were a lesbian when you turned me down. Turns out you just have issues and would rather screw a psychopath." 

An idea rushed into Clarice's mind then. "What's the matter, Paul?" The momentary flash of devise on her face had gone unnoticed to him, but had not been lost on the Doctor."You jealous?" Her face had adopted a seductive, teasing smile that she kept trained on Paul as she leaned close to Doctor Lecter again. Her eyes moved to him now, and he read her loud and clear: _Work with me. _

Her right hand slid around to rest at the back of his neck, her lips meeting his in a fervid kiss, as her left hand slid unnoticed into his front right pocket; well, unnoticed by Paul anyway _Mmmm… It seems Clarice has found something in my pants other than the obvious… _ Her fingers retrieved the harpy; it was easily concealed in her hand, beneath the long sleeve of his shirt that she wore. _Clever girl_

"ALRIGHT, that's enough!" Paul declared. He went ignored and it infuriated him. Finally, Clarice pulled back from the Doctor, and Paul addressed her "Why would I be jealous, Starling?" he spoke in a calm, self satisfied tone now "I already told you that Washington is full of corn pone country pussy. Why would I waist my time with a sick bitch like you?" 

Krendler's objective may have been to get to Clarice with his statement, but it didn't exactly have the desired effect. Clarice saw the rare sight of the Doctor agitated. Which, it turns out, isn't so rare after all when it comes to his Clarice being treated poorly. She knew he was a step away from turning around and attacking; like any predator would in defending it's mate, even when the odds were against him. Clarice's eyes pled with him not to make a move _PleaseDon'tTurnAround! At that close range he could blow your brains out before you could rip his throat out. Now is the time for that trademark self control, Hannibal. …since when did he become 'Hannibal' ? Mmmm Maybe when I started making out with him…. Or was it before that? _Krendler was shouting again…

"DID YOU HEAR ME? I said get your hands behind you head and lay face down on the floor. If you don't I'll pull this trigger and YOUR frontal lobe will splatter all over MY walls!" 

Doctor Lecter's body tensed as he prepared to turn on Krendler. But a cool hand griping his wrist stopped him. His rage seemed to subside as he took in the panicked look on Clarice's face 

"_Please, _Hannibal," she said quietly

Everything else melted away, and there was nothing but Her. 

"Stop," …_I don't want to lose you so soon… _"If you loved me you'd stop." Her voice came out calm but inside she was deathly afraid for him. 

But he stopped. He did exactly as Krendler instructed; hands behind his head, he got on the floor. It was an extremely disturbing place for him to be. He hadn't been this closely confronted with apprehension and captivity since Will Graham had brought it upon him eighteen years ago. 

Clarice, closing her eyes briefly, exhaled a relieved breath. Clearing her throat, she quickly put her mind back on the task at hand, and addressed Paul Krendler " So now what are you going to do with him, Paul?" She spoke with an amused smile.

Krendler tore his eyes from Lecter for a split second to look up at her dumbly.

She laughed "Your incompetence really amazes me. Do you even _have _a pair of handcuffs?" 

Without chancing to look up at her again, Paul held the gun on Lecter with one hand as he used the other to retrieve a set of cuffs from the pocket of his expensive suit. He chuckled as he dangled them for her to see "I may be better at the politics than the field work, Starling, but I'm not an idiot. I knew you two were in here. I parked in back and saw the Jag. I came in prepared." Paul crouched down and snicked one cuff around Lecter's wrist. "Look's like you were wrong about me."

"No Paul. I've been wrong about a lot of things…." 

Her voice came from directly behind him now and he hadn't even heard her approach. Startled, he turned to point the gun at her but she caught the wrist of the one hand he held it in .

"…but never about you." Clarice relished the feel of jamming the harpy into his jugular and ripping it across his throat. Blood spilled out onto the front of his expensive suit, soaking through to the cheap tie and shirt underneath. He made a kind of strangled, gurgle noise before the gun fell from his hand and hit the floor. Clarice yanked the harpy from Paul's neck before allowing him to fall to the floor in a heap. 

For a long while Clarice just stared at the pool of blood Paul's still form was releasing onto the white kitchen floor. "You forgot to check the corner, Paul." she told him. _That's the reason you're dead _

She looked up finally and her eyes focused and locked with Hannibal Lecter's. He stood several feet away from her now, just across the growing sea of red. He was breathing heavily as his eyes took in all of her. His bloody weapon held naturally in her hand. The splashes of red that covered _his_ white shirt that she wore. She _was_ his, in a way. But when he looked at her face, instead of seeing the regret for taking a human life that he'd expected, he saw her face flush from the kill and her eyes clear and confident. No. No, she belonged to no one now. The windows in her mind had aligned and now she was _free._

All control, reason and sentient thought abandoned the Doctor. He wanted nothing but Her.

Doctor Lecter gracefully stepped over the pile of Paul Krendler, but that's where the grace ended. Grabbing Clarice by the shoulders, he pushed her roughly against the Frigidair. She gasped and the bloody knife fell from her hand. Clarice smiled wickedly at his need for her "I take it you've finished teasing me for now?" she asked in a seductive voice.

"I'm through playing games." he growled before his lips claimed hers. She moaned into his mouth; the force with which everything was happening overwhelming her senses. Breathless, she said his name when his mouth finally left hers, allowing them both the oxygen that they, unfortunately, needed. His lips moving across her jaw, down her neck at a fevered pace. Her arousal taken to incredible new heights. "_Hannibal_--" moaning out his name now. He released her shoulders and adeptly unzipped her pants as she toed off her boots, kicking the whole bunch across the floor to land on dead Krendler. 

Clarice quickly showed Hannibal the same courtesy and released the fly on his pants as well. She wrapped her arms around his neck; her bloody hand streaking his face before reaching its destination. Hannibal gripped her thighs firmly; lifting her off the floor to straddle him so he could take her against the antique Frigidair.

And again on the dinning room table.

And again on the landing at the top of the stairs.

But he made love to her in the bed. 

****************************

Clarice opened her eyes to a bright, sunny bedroom. She was sore, _in a VERY pleasant way…_ and she was alone.

__

Alone?

She sat up quickly to look around, the feeling of sinking in her chest; like something heavy was resting on it. She began to breath quickly as she got out of the bed; ignoring the morbid animal head mounted on the wall behind it. Remembering her nakedness, Clarice grabbed the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around herself. _Who knows why I bother since I'm. completely. ALONE!_

She walked out into the hall way and turned the corner, headed for the stairs.

And bumped into Hannibal.

Clarice shrieked. 

"You should really watch where you're going, _Clarice._" he pointed out; smiling at her.

"You ASSHOLE. You scared the shit outa' me." and she didn't just mean because she'd been startled, either. Clarice held a hand to her chest. "Where did you go?" calmer now. She took in his appearance: The street clothing worn the day before replaced by a fine Italian suit.

"I had to see Mr. Krendler out, and I also went to buy you this." He handed Clarice a shopping bag from a designer store that she had heard of but never been in for monetary reasons. 

Clarice looked inside to find several tasteful outfits in her sizes. "Oh…." She looked up at him "Thank you"

"That will hold you over for now. we'll go shopping once we get out of the United States." He considered her present attire "Unless, of course, you'd rather wear the sheet to the airport." he said; amused.

"Oh, so I'm going with you, am I?" Clarice smiled "That's very presumptuous of you, Doctor Lecter." She folded her arms across her chest "You know, you can't just buy me some shoes and clothes and expect to sweep me off my fee--"

He halted her game of hard to get with a slow kiss against the hallway wall.

You'd think that such an intense love affair would tremble to begin.

**************************


	5. Epilogue

PAWN

Epilogue 

The dead eyes of a weighed down Paul Krendler forever look up toward the surface of the Chesapeake Bay. And to the sky beyond that. An airplane flying overhead cuts through the clouds; heading south towards Buenos Aries. 

In first class, third row back on the left, aisle seat, sits Hannibal Lecter. An unopened book gone untouched in his lap. He is content to simply enjoy the weight of Clarice Starling's head resting on his shoulder as she sleeps next to him in the window seat. With a bemused smile, he stairs at her hand; it rests on his in his lap, holding his thumb. 

As much as the Doctor had enjoyed his freedom over the last ten years, he realized how lonely he'd been before now. Before his incarceration, even. 

Just before leaving the house on the Chesapeake, Clarice had made a single request of him " Let's just get one thing straight," she'd said as they were about to walk out the door. " Just because I'm madly in love with you and we're prancing off into the sunset together," the Doctor smiled at her colorful description "doesn't mean that I want to pick up some of your more exotic eating habits. I'm not going to try and change who you are or what you do, just show me the same courtesy." 

"Understood." he agreed. It was a respectable request that he took seriously. And was never again an issue after that day.

In Argentina now, barely settled in the exquisite Beaux Arts building near the French Embassy for more than a few days, Clarice Starling sleeps in the large master bedroom on the top floor of the mansion. In the bed that they share every night, sleeps also Hannibal Lecter. Her hand rests on his hip beneath the covers, her head rests on his chest; face flushed still from their most recent session of insanely delicious sex. For tonight, and the rest of their nights together, she sleeps sweetly, peacefully in the silence of the lambs. 

*****************

The End!!!!! I hope everyone liked it!!! I'm toying with the idea of writing a sequel in the future… but not today. I'll have to think on it. I got a few requests for a description of what went on between the Doctor and Mason, so maybe I could try and fit it in there. 


End file.
